May 10 Update

May 10 Update May 10, 2015 · 4 min. read

On every 10th of the month I like to re-cap last month and discuss what's to come in the following month. April was a unique month for Kenton de Jong Travel. Instead of writing about specific locations I chose more general locations like Japan or Canada. I also compared two travel companies, Contiki and G Adventures, and looked at pricing differences, locations available and my experiences with both. I discussed religion and money-making, and I had the incredible opportunity to interview Saskatchewan's official blogger, the Saskatchewanderer.

I also formally announced what my "secret project" for the past few months has been. Although severely delayed (sorry!), my article about my hometown of Regina has gained unprecedented attention and I had no choice but to reveal it. The reason for the reveal was because Regina Tourism caught wind of what I was doing, and told me they would love to feature my article on their blog. Apparently their blogger is a fan of mine, and has been following me for some time. This is such an incredible opportunity for me, and I'm really excited and thankful for it! It will officially be launched the week of May 18th.

Last month I started an ad campaign on my site, using ads from AdClickMedia and Spoutable. While I had my second best month in pageviews ever, I only made a little over $3. Having just over 2,000 views, I felt the ads weren't being justified. I am considering other advertising alternatives, however, and may begin selling cheap adspace this month. The way I look at it, I can make more money selling 5 adspaces for $1 a month and make more than I made with my AdClickMedia/Spoutable combination. We'll see what happens though.

I've also started thinking about starting up a newsletter. I understand people are busy throughout the week and don't always have time to read my articles, so I am thinking about sending one every two weeks, showcasing my most recent articles. That way even if you're busy, come Saturday you will get an email reminding you about all the interesting things I talked about. This might work out, it might not. I'll give it a shot for a few months and if it seems popular, I'll keep it going.

With a variety of different articles on my blog (journal entries, travel tips, tour agency reviews, Top 10 write-ups, religious discussions, interviews, etc.), I'm thinking of doing a survey on my blog to see what my readers are most interested in. Your feedback is really important to me, and I really value it. I'll probably start that up this week and have it go for a month or so. Keep an eye out for that, and be sure to participate! I want to hear from you!

I have a few blogs lined up for this month as well. I want to write one about the sights in Hong Kong, one about St. Petersburg, one about Kyoto and one about managing traveling the world while in love. I have so much material that it's going to be difficult to write just one article!

So, another successful month past, and another busy one ahead!

Thank you again for your support in following my blog. This has been an incredibly journey so far. Even after 6 months I'm still really enjoying it, and I hope you are too!

Until next time, keep on traveling!

And, as always, a big thank you to my sweetheart Jessica Nuttall for proof reading a countless number of my articles. I couldn't do any of this without you. I love you.